Ellevate Podcast: Conversations With Women Changing the Face of Business

In the Ellevate Podcast you’ll meet real women having a real impact. Female entrepreneurs, authors, business women, and other inspiring leaders share their experience and takeaways from their careers.
Ellevate’s mission is to close the gender achievement gap by bringing more women into positions of leadership. Hosts Sallie Krawcheck and Kristy Wallace, Chair and President of Ellevate Network respectively, interview female leaders to showcase the immense talent these women bring to the table.

Miriam Grobman works to advance women's leadership through strategy, leadership development and organizational culture. Her career took many turns: she started off in Wall Street, moved to Brazil to work at a mining company, and finally decided to start her own business. In this episode Miriam talks to Kristy about working abroad, taking risks, creating change, and closing the gender gap.

Janet Balis has had a career full of twists and turns: from consulting, to media, to entrepreneurship, she's done a bit of everything. She also has had the pleasure of working with strong leaders like Arianna Huffington and Martha Stewart. In this episode, Janet shares her career journey, her process of building her personal brand, how much she's learning from the younger generations and some great tips to be more productive.

Manon DeFelice is the Founder and CEO of Inkwell, a company dedicated to connect senior level women with flexible job opportunities. Her career path has been non-traditional to say the least. She started off right after college designing compensation packages for the top executives in large businesses. She went to law school, worked with the Manhattan DA office with the sex crime unit, and after graduating while pregnant, she had an offer from a large law firm rescinded and decided to go to work for the NYC Mayor’s office to work on human trafficking and the commercial exploitation of children. In this episode, Manon shares her career journey, how it shaped her both in her family life as a mother and as an executive, how she negotiated her first job offer, some of the issues working moms face, the impact that flexibility can have on employees, and more.

Karen Potter is a Director of Social Collaboration, Talent & Learning Technology at Citi. Karen immigrated to the United States from Guatemala when she was seven with her single mom and two siblings. In this episode, Karen shares her story and memories of when she moved as a child, how playing sports had an impact on her career, and how networking and showing up brought her to where she is today.

January’s almost over; have you been sticking to your new year goals? How do you make sure you stay on track? This week’s guest, May Busch, went from being a senior executive for Morgan Stanley to creating her own path and becoming an executive coach. With over 24 years in investment banking, May has quite the insight and experience she wants to share with other executive women to help them advance in their careers. In this episode, Kristy and May discuss how to accomplish goals, how to track and achieve progress, and what you can do to take action in your lives.

Erin Loos Cutraro is the Co-Founder & CEO of She Should Run, an organization working to increase the number of women getting involved in elected office. After an intense weekend where more than 3 million people around the world marched to make their voices heard in support of equality and women’s rights, this is the perfect time to talk about the reasons there aren’t that many women in elected office. Erin shares some of the work She Should Run is doing to connect leadership and policy, research they have done around the double standards that women face in the campaign trail, some of the barriers to entry for women, and where you should start if you’re curious about running for office. Also, Maricella and Kristy went to DC together this weekend and the two debrief about how they feel about their role in politics.

How are you owning 2017? In this special episode, Sallie Krawcheck, Chair of Ellevate Network and Founder and CEO of Ellevest, &nbsp;talks to Kristy about her new book, <em>Own It.</em> Sallie knows the business world is changing, and she thinks that with these changes, women are strategically positioned because of our innate strengths, to be successful. We have the opportunity to use the power we don't even know we have to change the world. We just need to stop taking the advice that says we should act like men.

Nancy Halpern is the Principal of KNH Associates, which offers skills in communication coaching, leadership development and team building. In this episode, Nancy talks with Kristy about the definition of success, how to survive and thrive in a challenging work environment, and what to look for in a career coach.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017, the year to #OwnIt. In this first episode of the new year, Kristy chats with Whitney Johnson, author of Disrupt Yourself, podcast host and co-founder of 40 Women to Watch Over 40. Whitney has come to understand the core truth of innovation: companies don't disrupt, people do. Whitney shares the accelerators that can help us grow, her take on delegating, and why a personal brand is important.

In the second part of our 2016 special, the Ellevate team shares info on events and what's on deck for 2017, on who is the ideal Ellevate Network member (and, more importantly, who is not). And discover the behind the scenes of the Ellevate Podcast, including the beginning of what is now the weekly show that we love making for you.

It's been a busy year for Ellevate Network! In the first part of this two-part special episode you'll get to meet the people behind the scenes and learn what's next for the future of Ellevate. Hear from Sallie Krawcheck and Kristy what they think of 2016 and how sharing your stories helps women advance in business. You’ll get to meet Ellevate’s corporate partnership team (who may or may not have an alter ego) and learn what are some the wonderful companies who are investing in their female employees by working with Ellevate; the people behind Ellevate’s online presence including the brave man (and his dog) who decided to work for gender equality; our Texas office (pssst it’s not really an office) where all chapter coordination takes place; and hear from the two brains behind Ellevate’s social media and content. You’ll definitely learn the inside scoop of why Ellevate is what it is (hint: it’s because of the people).

Ramona Ortega is the founder and CEO of My Money, My Future. Ramona grew up in Napa, CA; her parents were farmers and didn't go to college. Her career has spanned journalism, cooking, policy and advocacy, corporate law and now entrepreneurship. In this episode Ramona talks about the importance of having your family's support, building your career towards your goal, serving the needs of people of color when it comes to finances, and why financial security is so important for innovation.

Kate Ryder is the Founder and CEO of Maven, a company that’s disrupting the healthcare industry by providing women with a network of women’s health and family providers around the country. But Kate started her career as a journalist. While she was writing an article on the Chinese travel market and its potential business opportunities, she realized her calling to be an entrepreneur. In this episode, Kate discusses the importance of storytelling, go-to tips for entrepreneurs, her greatest failure that lead to the beginning of her career, and the most important aspect of building a new brand (especially in healthcare), and more.

Lisa Stone is a Principal in Bernstein Global Wealth Management, however, when she started her career that’s not what she set off to do -- she was heading to another country, bright-eyed and hopeful, with the vision of changing the world. Yet, life happens, and she went into finance. She has now been at Bernstein for 13 years. In this episode, Lisa shares her career journey, how to become comfortable (and successful) doing sales, picking a financial advisor, the bag lady syndrome, and more.

Heidi Hackemer is the founder of Wolf & Wilhelmine, a brand strategy company that helps CEOs find what their brands are, and what their place is in the world. She believes in the importance of having a clear mission that you care about to be able to attract talent and clients. Before W&W, Heidi had a high-powered corporate job, which wasn’t making her happy. So she decided to drive across the US in a truck. In this episode, Heidi shares her career journey, her take on personal brand (and it’s not what you think), the impact her travels have had on her, being an introvert, and more.

Avani Patel is the Founder and CEO of Trendseeder and the Director of Start Up Studio at Harvard Business School in NYC. After six years of practicing law, Avani decided to quit and go to Columbia Business School to follow her passion for the fashion industry. She went on to start her own business to help pave the way for entrepreneurs within the fashion, beauty, health & wellness industries. In this episode, Avani talks about the importance of building your network, dealing with failure, pivoting, and how important self-awareness is for success.

Jennifer Gefsky is the Co-Founder of Après and the host of the Après podcast, The Aftershow. She started of her career as a lawyer, specializing in “sports law” and moved from her law firm to MLB. When her second child was born, Jen continued to work but wasn’t happy. She decided to take a break from her very high-powered, high-stress career, and then everything changed. After having worked so long and built her career, Jen had quite a bit of an adjustment to make. In this episode, Jen talks about her career and what led her to become an entrepreneur, the importance of passion and perseverance, and being comfortable with failure.

Lauren Leader-Chivée does not have a political background, but she has dedicated her career to closing the most critical personal, professional and political gender gaps for women. She founded All In Together to help inspire more women to get engaged in the political process. In this episode, Lauren shares information about her book, Crossing The Thinnest Line, the similar reasons behind the gender gap in business and in politics, why it’s important to increase the participation of women in politics, why diversity matters and how we can help embrace diversity by acknowledging our differences.

Karen Davis-Farage had a long career in the tech industry and, after 32 years, found herself without a job. It was through the influence of her son and her husband that Karen found her next career: becoming an entrepreneur. Karen is the President and Co-Owner of Pole Position Raceway, a company she leads with her husband. In this episode, Karen shares her advice for getting through tough times, working through a career transition, and the importance of having a network and continuing to learn from others.

If you thought the Girl Scouts are only about cookies, think again. Barbara Murphy Warrington is the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. She’s moved back and forth from the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, with some stops along the way in entrepreneurship and in the public sector, but her focus has always been on helping organizations with their leadership development. In this episode, Barbara shares her career journey, the importance of role models, some of the programs the Girl Scouts are working on, and more.

Adam Quinton is passionate about diversity and inclusion. And it’s not just talk: he spends his time (and money) investing and advising companies with diverse founders, teaching as an adjunct professor at Columbia, and working as an executive in residence for the Center of Talent Innovation helping companies become more inclusive. In this episode, Adam shares his journey into the start-up space after having a successful career in finance, his view on the importance and value of diverse teams, his advice for companies that want to become more inclusive, his method for evaluating the companies he invests in, and the dangers of stereotypes.

Annie Dean and Anna Auerbach believe the leadership pipeline is broken and that having flexible work opportunities for ambitious women would be the way to fix it. After both of their high achieving careers (Annie is a lawyer and Anna a consultant who then worked in the nonprofit sector) they started their own company, Werk, with the aim of helping women stay in the workforce and not opt-out when they become mothers. In this episode, Annie and Anna share their mission, why we need to take the term “mommy track” out of commission, why guilt and shame should not be a part of flexible work arrangements and their advice for new and aspiring entrepreneurs.

As the chair of Ellevate Network and Founder and CEO of Ellevest, Sallie Krawcheck is on a mission to close the money gaps: the gender pay gap, the gender investing gap, the gender achievement gap. In this episode Sallie shares news about her upcoming book, Own It, the skills women bring to the table in this changing business environment, her career journey, dealing with the naysayers and her lessons learned as a mom.

Angela Lee has always had a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, she is the Assistant Dean at Columbia Business School and she is the founder of 37 Angels, a community of women angel investors with the mission of educating early stage investors. In this episode Angela talks about delegating, time management, prioritizing while being an entrepreneur, and more.

Jas Boothe epitomizes the power of resilience and how much one person can do to make a positive change in the world. She is a disabled Army veteran, an activist, and the founder of Final Salute, an organization that seeks to provide safe and suitable housing to homeless women Veterans and their children. In this episode, Jas shares her story, how she decided that she needed to take matters in her own hands to be a changemaker, and how the lessons she learned in the military have helped her in her new path.

This episode of the Ellevate Podcast is sponsored by Fidelity Investments.